The present invention generally relates to a method of improving fuel efficiency in combustion chambers. More specifically, the present invention relates to a method of improving fuel efficiency in combustion chambers (by enhancing carbon or hydrogen combustion while simultaneously inhibiting nitrogen oxidation), comprising introducing a mixture of metallic compounds into the flame zone of a combustion chamber substantially homogeneously, such that the mixture is held by gases in the flame zone during the combustion of the fuel, and the mixture is thereby ionized prior to or during the combustion. This ionized mixture of compounds contains platinum, rhodium, rhenium, molybdenum, aluminum and ruthenium.
The burning of almost all hydrocarbon fuels in their respective combustion chambers is almost never complete. It is the unburned fuel leaving the combustion chamber which pollutes the atmosphere. The unburned fuel includes hydrocarbons, soot, smoke, carbon monoxide (CO), and oxides of nitrogen (NOx). The unburned and partially burned fuel represent both the pollution from the combustion process and a financial loss to the purchaser of the fuel. The only pollutant from a combustion process which is not unburned or partially burned fuel is nitrogen oxide. However, since the oxidation of the nitrogen to form nitrogen oxide is endothermic, the inhibiting of the oxidation of nitrogen is also equivalent to the burning of less fuel.
A second problem related to actual combustion chambers, such as in automotive engines or in oil fired boilers, is that these chambers have a wide distribution of parametric variation. This has been experimentally verified (by the inventor of the method of the present invention) by measuring the fuel combustion efficiency of new automobiles of the same model and of almost identical dates of manufacture.
Effective methods for simultaneously enhancing fuel oxidation and inhibiting nitrogen oxidation are known (i.e. 1992 U.S. Pat. No. 5,085,841xe2x80x94by the inventor of the present invention). However, because of the parametric variations of actual engines, these methods often fail to provide beneficial results in a percentage of individual engines. The method of the present invention is a substantial improvement over the prior arts, in that all individual engines measured have shown significant improvements of increased carbon oxidation and of decreased nitrogen oxidation.
The present invention relates to a method of improving fuel efficiency in combustion chambers by simultaneously enhancing the combustion of carbon and hydrogen while inhibiting the oxidation of nitrogen. It is believed that the invention is operative by catalyzing the oxidation of hydrogen, carbon, and carbon monoxide which are present during the combustion of typical hydrocarbon fuels, while simultaneously inhibiting the oxidation of nitrogen. This method is comprised of introducing a vaporous mixture of metallic compounds into the flame zone of a combustion chamber substantially homogeneously, such that the mixture is held by gases in the flame zone prior to and during the combustion of the fuel, and the mixture is thereby ionized prior to or during the combustion. The ionized mixture of compounds according to the present invention contains platinum, rhodium, rhenium, molybdenum, aluminum and ruthenium.